Gun rights activists have often held up Chicago as an example of the failures of gun control. The city has historically had some of the strictest laws against gun ownership while also suffering under some of the worst crime rates in the US. In 2012,¬†Chicago surpassed New York¬†as America‚Äôs murder capital. However, after the¬†US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit¬†struck down Illinois‚Äô¬†ban¬†on concealed carry in December of 2012, a concealed carry program was implemented in the state this year, finally and for the first time allowing law-abiding Chicago residents to arm themselves in public against the city‚Äôs seemingly-perpetual crime wave.

According to¬†The Washington Times,¬†now that citizens in Chicago can legally defend themselves, the city‚Äôs historically disastrous crime rates have begun to plummet precipitously. Police department crime statistics note that, in the first quarter of 2014, the homicide rate in Chicago has dropped to a 56-year low. In 2014 so far, burglaries are down by 20%, auto theft rates have dropped by 26%, and robberies leading to arrests are down by 20%.

The Chicago Police Department wasted no time in declaring victory and claiming credit for the drop in crime, but Illinois¬†State Rifle Association executive director Richard Pearson told¬†The Washington Times,¬†‚ÄúThe police department hasn‚Äôt changed a single tactic ‚ÄĒ they haven‚Äôt announced a shift in policy or of course ‚ÄĒ and yet you have these incredible numbers.‚ÄĚ He feels that the drop in crime can at least in part be attributed to the implementation of concealed carry in Illinois. Said Pearson, ‚ÄúIt isn‚Äôt any coincidence crime rates started to go down when concealed carry was permitted. Just the idea that the criminals don‚Äôt know who‚Äôs armed and who isn‚Äôt has a deterrence effect.‚ÄĚ

A record surge in recent firearms production and transactions have swamped the federal government’s automated registration system for select weapons, including machine guns.

In a notice earlier this month to the firearms industry, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said it was temporarily suspending parts of its computerized system to shore up capacity in part to process the required registration and transfer of National Firearms Act covered weapons, which also include silencers, short-barreled shotguns, short-barreled rifles and some explosive devices. ¬† Read more »

The NRA is one of the most effective lobbying and political movements in modern history. I am a member for two reasons, the first is to assist them in protecting the rights of gun owners and secondly to learn how they campaign.

After the school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, many in the American media insisted that the¬†tragedy¬†should prompt a “conversation about gun control.” These articles were written as if there had never been such a conversation. In fact, the issue had been debated for decades. Given the results,I argued, there was no reason to presume that a¬†new¬†conversation would end in more gun control.

Periodically some left-wing arsehole will complain to Police about the fact that I have a firearms licence.

What thy neglect to understand is that in order to be declared a fit and proper person to own firearms you have to tell Police all about any medication or mental health issues. I have had to get a forensic psychiatrist to say everything is ok. It is.

In the US there is real push to look at removing access to firearms from people suffering mental illness. The thinking is wrong.

A combat veteran of Iraq and law enforcement officer Aaron Weiss delivers a brilliant speech

Another issue is the insistence of certain people to stand on the graves of dead children and challenge those that disagree to say it to the parents faces. Well, I, for one, will puck up that gauntlet. First off, why is “dead children” your battle cry? You didn’t say anything about the hundreds of Chicago children being killed and for some reason you only screamed when it happens to wealthy white ones. And yes, I’ll say to anyone’s face, my right is more important than your dead, because I fought for it first hand. I washed the blood of my friends out of my humvee and I picked up their mangled bodies and I fought day in and day out. I did more things than people can imagine. So, yeah, my right trumps your dead. I earned it in blood. I gave up a lot for this country, including my youth, and better men than me game up a whole lot more so that all of you, myself included, could enjoy the rights that are guaranteed to us in our Constitution and Bill of Rights. We didn’t go though all of that to come back home and watch you surrender what we fought for happened based on the demented actions of a couple of mad men. Read more »

It has been no secret that Piers Morgan is a big opponent of guns and the Second Amendment, but for a fleeting second it almost seems as though the irritable whinger ‘gets it’. Almost.

I‚Äôve had some of the pro-gun lobbyists on here, saying to me, ‚ÄėWell, the reason we need to be armed is because of tyranny from our own government,‚Äô and I‚Äôve always laughed at them,‚ÄĚ Morgan said last night. ‚ÄúBut, actually, this is vaguely tyrannical behavior by the American government. Read more »

There were 8,583 homicides by firearms in 2011, out of 12,664 homicides total, according to the¬†FBI. This means that more than two-thirds of homicides involve a firearm. 6,220 of those homicides by firearm (72%) are known to have involved a handgun.

It’s worth noting that violent crime rates of all types have been¬†steadily decreasing¬†since the early 1990s. No one is quite sure what is causing this decrease, though there are¬†many theories, ranging from tighter gun control laws to more innovative policing and changes in the drug market. Whatever the cause of this decline, America still has a homicide rate of¬†4.7¬†murders per 100,000 people, which is one of the highest of all developed countries (see:¬†international comparison).

Gun violence also affects more than its victims. In areas where it is prevalent, just the threat of violence makes neighborhoods poorer. It’s very difficult to quantify the total harm caused by gun violence, but by asking many people how much they would pay to avoid this threat — a technique called¬†contingent valuation¬†— researchers have estimated a cost to American society of¬†$100 billion dollars.

Guns are also involved in suicides and accidents. 19,392 of 38,264 suicides in 2010 involved a gun (50%), according to the¬†CDC. There were 606 firearm-related accidents in the same year — about 5% of the number of intentional gun deaths.

Back in 2007 gun control was debated and ABC looked at the issue…nothing has changed that would affect this story other than the liberals are still trying to take the guns:

¬†ABC anchor John Stossel discussed the self-defensive benefits of gun ownership, debunking the myth that “gun control reduces crime.” The segment aired during 20/20’s recurring series, “Myths, Lies & Downright Stupidity,” based on Stossel’s book of the same title. Citing the recent Federal Appeals Court for DC ruling overturning Washington, D.C.’s ban on gun ownership, Stossel talked to the pro-gun plaintiff in the case, Tom Palmer, and pointed out that the murder rate in D.C. increased after the city’s gun ban: “Since Washington’s gun law passed, the murder rate actually increased, even while America’s murder rate dropped. It’s because guns can also save lives, says Palmer, as one saved his years ago in California.”

Of course people, especially Whangarei based teachers will fail to understand that guns can actually save lives. The vast majority of people killed in gun related homicide are criminals.¬† Read more »

In the the wake of the Port Arthur massacre Australian politicians reacted in a¬†illogical¬†manner and ignored sensible advice. They put in place bans and amnesties to lower the number of firearms in the community. That hasn’t worked out so well…the numbers though are probably suspect¬†because¬†they are from that anti-gun¬†weirdo¬†Philip Alpers:

Professor Alpers said since eight people were killed in Melbourne’s Queen Street massacre in 1987, Australia had run 38 gun amnesties for a combined total of more than 3000 weeks.

This included the 1996-97 national firearms buy-back and the 2003 handgun buy-back, which resulted in 728,667 newly prohibited guns being handed back in return for compensation.¬† Read more »